Tag Archives: Trials

In Times of Crisis

2 Feb

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”   John 16:33

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There isn’t a person born who hasn’t faced crisis at some time in their life. Some people face crisis on a daily basis; some very rarely.

In my life I’ve experienced crisis in many, many forms. Each event was different, but had its own specific crisis impact on my future and the person I would become. Living in extreme poverty, sexual abuse, physical abuse, alcoholic husband, divorce, having a child trapped in drugs, having a child in prison, health failures, financial burdens, all of these set a tone for who I was, and by the way I dealt with each event, who I would become. I had to ask myself whether I was going to I allow the crisis to define my weakness or whether I would use the crisis to build my strength.

I have prayed many times to receive the understanding of why I went through so many difficult events. When I began to counsel people the answer became clear; I could relate to the pain of others and bring to them a testimony of hope. I don’t believe it was God’s plan for me to have to face so many difficult situations, I believe they came because of the choices of my parents, and later on, because of my own insecurities and poor resulting choices. I do believe that God took those situations and turned them into a God purpose, to help raise another out of the pit of despair.

I can testify that you can lay hands in prayer on an empty refrigerator and food will come to your door by the most unexpected means. I can testify that through prayer a seemingly lost child will return home and rededicated their life to Christ. I can testify that you can forgive a rapist and a child beater. I can testify that miracles happen every day, even in the midst of crisis, if you take a moment to look. I can testify that God answers prayer and moves mountains from your path, if that’s what it takes to solve a crisis in your life. I can testify to these, because I’ve walked those paths.

God never leaves us; He laughs with us and He cries with us. He holds us in the dark hours and sends angels to provide our needs. Sometimes the angel is you, sometimes it’s me, and sometimes it’s a complete stranger. God’s love will continue to hold us closes; as long as we let Him. When we are so angry at Him for allowing things to happen to us, He holds us close. His omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient presence understands our confused emotions and allows us to work it through, just as we do with our own children.

Leaning on the love and understanding of God brings peace. God helps us to remain strong in faith by being who He is, faithful.

Letting go in a time of crisis is not easy. We hold fast with both hands to what we think we should keep. But, if we don’t release the left hand of yesterday and the right hand of today, we won’t be able to reach for the hand of God and His blessing for tomorrow.

What are you holding onto? Are you embroiled in a crisis at the hands of the enemy, or are you the empowerer of your own situation by not releasing the past and standing in faith of a new tomorrow? Let go!

By Linda J. Humes

Written 1-30-2011

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“HAVE YOU SEEN MY SERVANT . . .”

20 Oct

“I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.” Psalms 40:1-2 (KJV)

All my life I have been drawn to birds. My great desire was to have my own chickens and ducks. A few years ago my Mother’s Day Gift was the converting of a shed into a chicken coop. We bought baby chicks and raised them in the bath tub until they were big enough not to escape through the fence openings. We learned that just because a sign says “Pullets” you are only guaranteed that 80% of the birds are hens – we weren’t that statistically fortunate – more like 75%. If you’ve ever had to deal with territorial roosters, you will understand the importance of that.

About 8 months ago we took in a foster-adopt dog named Patches. She was over a year old and had been seriously injured on a number of occasions by other dogs. At first she would just lay on the floor for hours, not moving. The vet recognized that she had an eye problem where the lid of her eyes would turn all the way inside, causing large sores on her eyeballs. After her eye surgery she took on a whole new hyperactive personality. We grew to love her and her silliness very much.

A few days ago I was heading out to put the dogs in the house and let the chickens and ducks out of the coop and pen to wander the yard and eat their fill of bugs – but something was wrong. On the back porch lay one of my little banty hens, dead. I looked toward the pen – Patches was inside.

I ran as fast as I could to get her out and protect my little flock – but what I saw completely devastated me. All 3 ducks were dead. 7 hens were dead. 2 hens were horribly mutilated but breathing. One rooster was mildly hurt.

How could this happen? We so carefully built the coop and pen to keep out predators, but our own dog got in. On the side of the pen was a hole about 12” wide that she had ripped with her teeth.

We latched down all the coop doors and blocked the hole – but she went back in several times. The other 2 hens died that night, only the rooster remained. We thought we had the pen secure again and I opened the little door from the coop to the pen, so the rooster could walk around. He wasn’t much interested in venturing. He was still so scared.

I checked on him every few hours to see how he was doing, and on one trip found a duck egg in the corner. I took it in the house, washed it and opened the egg carton to put it away – every egg in the carton was cracked open, somehow they had frozen on the top shelf of the fridge. Overwhelming grief struck me. All but one of my chicks and ducks were dead. All of their eggs were destroyed. It was as if God was erasing a section of my life.

That night I kept hearing noises and kept checking the coop. At about 2am I finally fell asleep. At about 4am I woke again – the dog was back in the coop and had mangled the rooster after ripping a 3’ wide hole in the fence. The rooster lived until late in the day. We took the dog to a foster agency that morning, being sure to tell them that she should not be placed in a home with any kind of birds. I could no longer trust her and knew I could not keep her inside either as I have a large collection of domestic birds.

I was filled with pain. I could not understand what had just happened. I had lost all 13 of my flock and I had lost a dog I loved. Even the broken eggs in the ‘fridge seemed to be a message. I was so overwhelmed with grief and cried out to God “Why?”

I pray over my home and animals every day. I pray over the land and the safety of everything on it. I stand in faith believing that when I pray, my prayers are heard and honored. I couldn’t understand why my God would allow this.

I prayed and cried for hours – until I heard God’s voice. “Have you seen my servant Job?” What? Was this merely a trial?

“But God I prayed.” Job prayed and even sacrificed for each of his children so that they would be pure before God as they did not live holy lives.

“But God, you said if I prayed believing . . .?” Job said that God gives us all, and He can take it all away (Job 1:5, 1:8 & 1:21).

God and I spent a lot of time together that day. I was so confused and hurt; He was patient. I was angry; He was loving. I finally said “God, if this was Your will, please take the hurt away and give me peace.”

A soft cloud of peace wrapped me like a blanket. The pain slipped quietly from my heart and I felt such comfort.

I don’t understand why we are given such trials of faith. I don’t know why some things have to be so hard. But I know that when we cry out to God, He is there to bring comfort and peace.

I’m already planning my new flock. This time we’ll use heavier gauge fencing. I will still pray over them every day. I will still trust in those prayers. And, if God allows me to be tested again, I will cry out again for peace – knowing in Who’s hands it rests.

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NOTE:  Since this piece I have raised several flocks of chickens and ducks.  It is such a blessing to see them roam around and enjoy life.

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By Linda J. Humes

Written 7-5-07

**The Road To Emmaus”

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The Fire Within

30 Oct

“Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently.”   Exodus 19:18 NIV

My wood burning stove and I have a love-hate relationship.  When it is cooperating I love it; wonderful dry warmth.  However, when I don’t have the fire building components right, it becomes the subject of several hours of frustration. The Fire Triangle represents the 3 simple components that ensure continued combustion, or a nice warm fire.  The components consist of flame, oxygen and a continued source of fuel.  Ah, fuel!!  Therein lies the problem.

So, first goes in the paper, then bits of cardboard, next small branches or twigs, and then split log on top.  The perfect building blocks for a solid fire . . . except that the split logs wouldn’t burn.  At the onset of cold weather we’d had many dry months; the wood was dry and easy to start.  Then came several tropical storms, and although the wood wasn’t openly in the rain, the ends became damp and the wood absorbed the thick humidity hanging in the air.

I would start up a fire, watch it flare and roar, close the door, set the flue, and walk away.  Within a few minutes I would realize that the fire had gone completely out.  The fire had consumed all of the viable fuel, but the damp split logs were not viable.

I added more paper, cardboard and twigs, encourage the flames with the billows, would get it roaring, and then close the door.  Once again it went out.  This repeated over and over again, often for hours.  Each time the split log would get a little drier and start to smolder in spots.  After many, many starts the log would finally get dry enough to actually ignite and burn.

I started thinking about how much that sounded like the journeys of our faith?  We start out with hearts on fire and great expectations, but our components aren’t complete.  We need the daily building of the Word inside to keep the fire of the Holy Spirit burning brightly.  We need encouragers, teachers and mentors to build our foundation.  What we allow to come into our lives, our eyes, our ears, our mind, can absorb into that foundation and dampen our spirits, causing our fire to smolder or go completely out.

With my wood burning stove I have discovered that I have the best results in starting a new fire if I never to allow the embers of the previous fire to go completely cold.  Tossing a small branch in the stove and closing down the flue will allow the embers to smolder underneath the soft ashes for many hours.  When it is time for the new fire, I only need to remove the ash and set the new split log onto the embers.  The embers will dry the wood and ignite the log after a period of time.  The firefighters talk about this phenomena, it’s called a “flare up.”  Flare up is very dangerous in campfires and forest fires, but it is not dangerous in my fireplace – and it is absolutely not dangerous in my faith.

Do you feel as if you have spiritually grown cold?  Do you feel that the faith you once had has left you in the aftermath of testing and trials?  God tells us that He will never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6), and that His Spirit will consume us, fill us and guide us as we allow it (Hebrews 12:29).  He’s right there under the ash of burned away days, traveled roads and deep disappointments; a burning ember waiting to rekindle the faith we so desire.  Rebuild your foundation.  Reignite through prayer and study.  Your flame will draw many.

 

Written 10-28-18

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DRY BONES

10 Sep

Dry Bones

Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto

them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.  Ezekiel 37:4 KJV

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Could I have bore the pain you carried.

Would you have tread where I once walked.

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Had we been given each other trials,

Would I or you have chosen different paths,

Or could I have carried the burden for which I have judged you?

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The ravens of gossip and deceit,

Help me to strip the smallest,

Most hidden and covered areas of your being.

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With a critical tongue and thoughtless sighs,

I chew away your life, bite by bite.

Stripping away the beauty that was you,

Leaving dry parched bones,

Cast into the wasteland.

—-

What have I done?

Can these bones live again?

Can what was stolen ever be returned?

Will you be able to hear Jesus call,

With the cleansing blood of truth,

That can breathe life back into these bones.

—-

Will you let another hear that can love

          and nurture your brokenness back to health,

Or have the words of my mouth caused walls of stone,

So tall and deep, that none may penetrate.

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Could I have carried the burdens for which I have judged you?

Could I have carried the burden of the pain which I have caused you?

If I had only taken the time to see life through your walk,

If . . .

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